Elsie Isidora Stelzer

Thursday

May 16, 2013 at 12:01 AM

Graveside services were held Tuesday, May 14, at Cedar Park Cemetery in Paramus, N.J. for Elsie Isidora (Rosen) Stelzer, who died Monday, May 13, 2013, at the Jewish Home of Scranton. She was the widow of E. Norman Stelzer, with whom she shared 66 years of marriage at the time of his death in 2009.

Born on Nov. 7, 1920, in Manhattan, N.Y., to the late Isidore and Etta (Chaimowitz) Rosen, Elsie lived in Queens, N.Y.; Jersey City, Teaneck and Maplewood, N.J.; and most recently, Mount Pocono. In the Poconos, Elsie and Norman were members of Temple Israel and the JRC in Stroudsburg.

Elsie was an active member of many synagogues throughout her life, most notable the Teaneck, N.J., years, when she and Norman opened their home for many charitable endeavors. She was a lifetime member of Hadassah and a member of the National Council of Jewish Women. Elsie also was active in the 1960s civil rights movement.

A bookkeeper prior to her marriage, Elsie also found time to help out in the family business, Rosen Decorators of Jersey City, N.J., while raising four children. A world traveler, she loved reading, classical music, art and opera. She also was an expert at needlepoint, creating phenomenal tapestries.

She is survived by two sons, Leigh and his wife, Patricia Farley, of Mount Pocono and Adam of Chestnut Ridge, N.Y.; and two daughters, Deborah Rosen and her husband, Julius, and Esther Farron and her husband, Steven, all of Florida. She is also survived by six grandchildren: Kenneth Stelzer, Rebecca, Ruth and Douglas Rosen, and Joshua and David Farron; and two step-grandsons, Victor and Ian Newmark. She is also survived by her brother, Herman and his wife, Sandra, and eight nieces and nephews. She was predeceased by her brothers, Simon and Harold.

The family would like to thank the staffs of both Oakview Terrace in Moosic and the Jewish Home for their years of tender loving care.